Red Camellia
by NanaMii148
Summary: Now our story is not a fairy tale, it's not an inspiration to others. Nor are we role models to the society. It's just a ridiculous mixture of undying passion, unspoken love and shared heat. It's only the testament of a love that never had the chance to live.
1. Prologue

_Tuesday 6th January 1878_

_If you ask me when I did fall in love with him, I wouldn't be able to give you an answer. _

_I will also probably never be able to explain how he could bewitch me with the only power of his emerald eyes, how he could make me feel like we had known each other for years when we hadn't even talked to each other yet, how he could tell exactly what I wanted without a single word from me, how such beautiful eyes could always carry that sad glow with them, how he could make me fly without leaving the ground, how a word meant one hundred others in his mouth, how he managed to make his hair look like a perfectly organized mess, how he seemed to leave this world whenever he was dancing in the air, how he could be so fascinated by Darwin, Aristotle or Sophocles or how the whole room seemed to lighten up whenever he was entering it without any scientific explanation._

_But what I can explain is the way my eyes couldn't leave him when I first saw him flying with a grace women would kill for, the way the only thought of him was bringing a smile to my face, the way his kisses made me feel like I could live a thousand years, the way his touch was making me lose track of time, the way his dance in the air made heaven look bland and his beauty made Apollo look ridiculous, the way I could follow him until the end of time with just one glance from him, the way hearing his name made my heart beat faster or the way I felt myself dying and my world crumble when I woke up alone that fateful morning. _

_All your childhood your parents teach you the rules of courtesy, how to use a fork or a spoon, how to make friends, how to resolve equations, how to debate properly, how to defend yourself during a fight, how to act like a real gentleman, how to have good grades at school, how to please your employer, how to avoid suspicious persons on the street, how to woo a girl, how to play chess, how to forgive the one that hurt you, how to love the other like yourself to be a good Christian. But what they don't teach you it's how to act when love and desire hit you in the face with the impact of a tsunami. How to cope with the weave of decency and desire that fight like two tigers inside you. How to handle those overwhelming mixed feelings that command you to act and stand still at the same time. How to love a man when you've only been taught to love a woman._

_If you had asked me what I imagined my life to be like before him, I would have told you a good job, a house, a wife waiting for me at home, cute little children playing in the yard. Maybe a loyal dog. What normality tells you to wish for. But with all the immoral and indecent side of our affair, it was worth tenth or one hundredth time better than everything a man could wish for. I don't care that I blasphemed all the laws of God, that I made myself prisoner of a ghost, that everything between us was desire, passion, heat and unpronounced love. It was worth it. Call me a disgrace to my family or the society, I don't care. I don't care because I had him. _

_Sometimes when I only have my thoughts to keep me company, I look at the past and wonder if he was real. If it wasn't my brain making up such a gorgeous thing to illuminate my boring daily routine. If he was human. If we should be allowed to look at someone that beautiful, if we were supposed to see something that heavenly. I don't and probably will never know the answer to that question. Blinded by my selfish wishes I would say that, yes, we were supposed to meet. But sometimes I think that the world, our world, doesn't deserve someone that beautiful. _

_Sometimes I like to believe that this circus was only called the "Cirque du Printemps" because of him. He was awakening the sleeping flowers in everyone's soul after a harsh winter. His silent dance whispering to your body that it was time to wake up. His eyes softly caressing your heart with their mysterious glow. He awoke feelings in me that I thought would lay dead, buried somewhere deep into my soul, forever. Fascination, adoration, desire, love._

_Since the day he left, every day is winter for me. Everything seems to lay down, asleep forever. The flowers don't blossom anymore, the sky never turns from grey to blue, the trees stay naked even during the warmest days, snow and dust cover the sidewalk. Sometimes I even wonder if the world hasn't been like that all along and that the only reason I wasn't seeing this desolated version of our world was him. Spring disappeared with a circus and so did my reason to live._

_My life has been quite a mess since the day he left. There's no need to hide the truth, my life is what you can call a "life of debauchery". I've lost my ambition and never took it as far as I wanted to take it. I didn't make any "new discovery that would change the history of biology" as he would have said. I'm sure he would get angry if he knew that. He would probably frown and lock me into a room with books to make me find back my "passion". I've been frequenting prostitutes that never gave me as much pleasure as he used to give me. I even tried to settle down with a woman. She brought his ghost back too much to my liking and, after many dishes were broken and many screams were heard, I ordered her to get out of my house and to never come back. Not that she was against the idea anyway. I don't seem to find a point in doing what I used to love doing. Ah, you would say that I'm depressed. I don't know. I think I am just bored. It's like life has pressed the button "pause" and is just waiting for him to hit the "play" button. _

_I will never forget how my common name suddenly took a magical consonance in his mouth. Like it was the most precious thing in the world. Nor would I ever forget the first time he looked at me, making me his eternal prisoner._

_I don't know if we were meant to be but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I don't care that we lost it. That everything that ever was between the two of us vanished with that damn circus. Those enchanting eyes, those feet that could walk on the air, those hands that could wake up my wildest desire, that voice that could keep me in trance during the whole night, that little head of his that even laying on my chest was up in the clouds. All these are my most precious treasures. My most precious memories._

_He was a huge mystery. You could never tell what he was thinking and sometimes I felt like his body was trapped in our world while his soul was wandering somewhere else. Wonderland or some undiscovered galactic planet, I will never know. I loved all that aura of mystery surrounding him. Being with him was like stepping in a world you couldn't see. I was walking blind in a world I didn't belong to. In all the research in biology that I made, never had I faced an enigma like that. I was trying to solve a puzzle without the pieces and its owner seemed to skillfully prevent me from finding them. Sometimes I wondered if all those hours spent dancing in the air didn't make his soul vanish in the clouds. If he had already left this world long ago, only to leave his heavenly figure to our contemplations. _

_My parents used to tell me that there are three things in life you can't miss. Birth, love and death. Well he brought those three things to me. I was born with his touch, I was in love with his rare nostalgic smile, I was dead when I woke up alone that fateful morning._

_If I should paint love, it would have green eyes, sandy and messy hair, a pale skin and the grace of an angel. It would have a face. It would have a voice. It would have a name. Arthur Kirkland._

_And I never had the chance to tell him that I loved him and that I still do. _

_I never had the chance to tell him that a life without him isn't worth living. That he makes my heart beat faster. That he is my everything. That I want to grow old with him. That I want to die by his side. That a life where he isn't there with me every second isn't a life. That I want to hold him in my arms and remain lost in this moment forever. That I dream of his kisses every night. That everything I see, everything I do brings me back to him. That the stars look pale compared to the light he brought to my life. That he makes me forget everything else. That he is the only thing that matters. That he's my heaven. That he is the only thing that I want. That he's the love of my life._

_I wanted to tell him all along. It will always be my biggest regret to have let him go without telling him those three little and simple words that could have changed everything. And it's killing me. Killing me to know that I let the best thing that ever happen to me go away without putting up a fight. I just stood there like an idiot, crying on the bed that he used to share with me._

_I don't know what would have been the appropriate thing to do back then. But what I know is that letting him go wasn't one of them. I would give everything to see him one more time. Even if it's only for two seconds. I would give everything that I have, everything that I am just to see his angelic face again. I would cut my two legs, sell my soul to the devil or search around the whole damn word until my body would fall apart just to be able to see him one more time._

_What would he look like ? Would he still dance for people ? Would his eyes still have the same sad glow ? I highly doubt the last one. He probably found someone who could succeed where I failed. Bringing happiness to those two green diamonds. _

_I spend my days wondering if it would have changed something. If we would be together if I had said those three magical words. If he had known that I love him and that I still do, would he be with me at the exact moment when I write those words ? Would he still be dancing for me ? Would he kiss me the way he used to ? _

_I will never know. _

_Now our story is not a fairy tale, it's not an inspiration to others. Nor are we role models to the society. It's just a ridiculous mixture of undying passion, unspoken love and shared heat. It's only the testament of a love that never had the chance to live._

_Alfred F. Jones_

**N/A : **

Sorry if there are many mistakes I didn't see when I was writing it ^^' English isn't my native language, I've only been taking it for 5 years at school and I don't have any beta so :')

The "cirque du Printemps" means "Spring's circus". That's why Alfred says that he wonders if the circus was called like that because of Arthur.

I've never changed a story as much as that one. It took me one month just to write the prologue and the first chapter because I was always changing them. It takes me A LOT of time to write my chapters. (And they're also really long xD Well no the prologue isn't long but it's because it's the prologue ;P But to give you an idea, the first chapter is 8500 words long :P) So please don't be mad at me if I don't update quickly. :') I really don't know how people can write a chapter in two hours it amazes me xD I will try to update once in a week but... Well I can't promise you anything. xD School is going to start soon and everything.

So I wrote that in Italy. (Roma inspired me for that story, don't ask me why xD I was just sitting there, eating (or drinking ? ô.o) a granita in Capri and suddenly the idea popped in my head.) When I was writing it I was like "Why can't someone write something like that about me ? ;^;" I'm just going to pretend that I wrote that for me. Nope. I'm not forever alone I swear.

**Oh and there's a reason why it's rated M. If you don't like adult themes or things like that, don't read it. :)** The sexual part softens after a while but the beginning is quite ... well sexual xD Don't expect them to beat around the bush and all. So prudes be warned. ;)


	2. Monday 8th April 1872

"It's for Charles' little sister!" growled a tall man, his hands resting on his friend's desk.

"What part of "I've got work to do" didn't you understand ?" a man with dirty blonde hair answered, his glance not leaving his textbook.

They were sitting on an old crimson red couch in what seemed like a university's common room. Everywhere around, students were happily chatting or writing down the results of their research or a homework they had to give back the next day. Some were laughing heartily at one of their friends' joke, their backs lying on the wall, while others had a frown on their face and their hand up to their chin, searching the answer to the problem their papers seemed to possess. It seemed like they had gathered all the students in one spacious room. They were all quiet yet living, you could see the energy they were putting in whatever they were doing despite all the well-behavior. Sometimes you could even wondered if all this wasn't a facade and that they were devils hidden behind the image of an angel. That it was a world full of sharks and the few little fishes that dared to step here were eaten alive or turned into sharks themselves.

But despite all this, the oval room had a peaceful ambiance. Maybe it was because it had once been a chapel. Now it had been transformed into a library with imposing gothic wooden objects, probably European regarding its old age and the architecture of it. The wood seemed old and needed to be varnished. They were arranged in a way that there were enough sits for everyone without taking the whole space. The couches and the tables where all arranged in a circle, allowing small groups of students to interact with the biggest amount of people they could, never turning their back to any of them. There was a huge stained glass representing the Judgment day filtering the light and making it look like a disassembled colorful puzzle on the ground. The ground was covered in slabs joining in a circular mosaic of an edelweiss flower in the center of the room which was devoid of any objects. Probably to make the mosaic stand out more in the humongous room. There were two stairs against the wall, starting at each other's opposite side and stopping half way to the top of the 14 meters high wall in a spin, never touching each other. The circular stairs were forming some sort of mezzanine where you could find any book you wanted on the filled shelves, pinned on the off white wall. Books seemed to literally come out of the walls in an army of thousands. It was a quite large and illuminated common room that everybody loved for its peacefulness. It had that relaxing and nostalgic ambiance none of the other rooms had.

"Oh come on Alfred! I heard that there were some pretty good-looking women in their hall of wonders." the insisting man said in a lower tone, blinking and leaning farther towards his friend.

"Where did the "we're going for Charles' sister" go Tony?" said Alfred answered, still not looking away from the textbook where he was calmly writing down notes for his new project. He didn't want to be involved in any of his plan to go to a goddamn circus. Tony man just rolled his eyes.

"Yes that's the _official_ purpose of this trip but I do want to see those women in their hall of wonders! Man they're in the hall of _wonders ! _They must look like Goddesses!" In front of Alfred's absence of answer his -underdeveloped- brain decided to take it as a sign to go on in his perverted madness.

"I heard that there was a woman with three tits." Alfred just lifted his eyes to face his companion with a murderous glare. "Okay, okay! No three tits! But you _have_to go!"

"I'm not going to this ridiculous thing. I told you. I've got work to do."

* * *

"I'm wasting my time here." Alfred groaned, waiting in a humongous line with four of his friends and a 7 year-old little girl.

"Charles, Charles! Look! I can see an elephant!" said the blonde little girl, bouncing up and down.

"Yes sweetheart, there is an elephants, it's a circus." Charles answered, chuckling a bit and petting his little sister's head.

"Don't be such a downer Alfred, I'm sure you'll enjoy the show!" said Tony patting his friend's back. Then he leaned towards his ear. "Woman with three tits man. Three tits." he whispered jokingly while Alfred let out a frustrated groan, obviously bothered by his friend's fascination on women with three tits. "What do you have against women with three tits anyway ? That's racism against them. _Racism_." He said pointing an inquisitive finger at him. Alfred just rolled his sky blue eyes.

"I heard there was a mermaid in there!" exclaimed a younger guy with short chestnut hair. He was quite small for his age and seemed very fragile, standing on what seemed more like twigs than legs.

"Of course, this is not Latvia, Raivis! We're in the United States here! The land of all possibilities! We have mermaids _everywhere_." said another guy proudly. In front of his stoic face, Alfred didn't knew if the poor Latvian had took it badly or if he had just let it pass due to habit.

"Except that this is a _European_circus Franklin. I highly doubt that they've found their mermaid in America. Not to mention that no one has ever seen a mermaid in America." answered realistically Charles.

"Whatever. It's still the land of all possibilites."

"No it is not."

"Oh look, Charles, Charles! I can see a tiger too!"

Alfred sighed heavily, deciding to not listen to Charles and Franklin's argument on whether America was the land of all possibilities or not, fixing his gaze on the imposing big top. He had lied when he had told Tony that the reason he didn't want to go to this circus was because he had too much work. The truth was that he was terrified by clowns. The last and only time his parents had taken him to the circus he was 5 years old and the man with the red and round nose had decided to make him jump on the stage. The clown had spent his time playing with razors that had eventually turned into flowers and Alfred had spent the entire time crying in front of a cruelly laughing crowd and guilty-looking parents. He shivered at the thought. He really hoped that there weren't any clowns in that "Cirque du Printemps". Because he didn't knew if I could face another one without bursting into tears. But Alfred didn't place his hopes really high, every circus had its clown.

That circus looked a bit different though. There was no bright colors attacking your eyes with a childish sunny yellow and a flashy naive red. It was a nuance of maroon and fire brick red. The fact that the sun was setting made the colors look even darker. The central part of the circus was a big top going quite high but the rest was some sort of long covered passageways of silk, not really high but larger than most circuses. Actually larger than any circus Alfred had ever seen. But that wasn't saying much. It was almost taking his whole vision range. The main and largest one was running towards you like a giant mouth ready to swallow you up. It was fancy but not flashy, everything was moderated but still sumptuous. He couldn't really describe what that fancy big top was inspiring me. Something between playful mystery and elegant simplicity. It did look European indeed. It was taunting you, silently drawing you towards it like Homer's mermaids would charm sailors. It was hard to look away from it. It had a mysterious aura that drawn you towards it. I had to say that it almost looked like those fancy brothels for the higher social class, a scandalous scent in the air masked by a noble appearance. He didn't knew why they had choose that sort of decoration for a circus but one thing was sure; you couldn't look at it and not enter it.

His analysis of the traveling circus was stopped by the sound of a cheery and flirtatious Italian voice chatting with two giggling women in elegant dresses. He wondered why they needed to dress so well just to go see a spectacle in a circus. It seemed like the handsome, and probably Italian judging by his accent, man was the one taking care of the entry tickets and payment.

"Ah, I don't know why we even bother to have a hall of wonders when we have such beautiful ladies in our audience, ve~!" the Italian said with a seductive grin. The two women just chuckled, lifting a hand towards their mouths and looking at each other with a slight blush.

"Don't say silly things!" giggled the first one.

"I'm sure there are much more good-looking women in your hall of wonders!"

"No, I see them all the time and none of them come even close to matching your beauty, _tesori~!_" he answered with a light laugh. He looked like a small child in the body of an handsome adult. He didn't knew what was the most effective, the flirty remarks or the Italian accent. He hoped it was the accent, because otherwise, he was definitively giving up on women for succumbing to such hackneyed phrases.

The two women eventually bought their ticket, after a dreadfully huge amount of flirt from our Casanova, and entered, still looking back from time to time to the brown-haired little man and blushing and giggling every time their gazes met while he had already beginning to flirt with the women right after them. Alfred sighed. Poor women, building hopes on someone like that.

"Do you think I could have that effect on women if I had an Italian accent ?" said Tony jokingly while elbowing the tall blonde man in the stomach. Alfred frowned at the movement.

"Not even in your dreams Tony." he answered, laughing lightly.

"Aw, it hurts man!" he joked, lifting a hand to his heart for a dramatic effect. "I'm the future _Don Giovanni_, just wait and see. I'll have all the women at my feet because I'm Italian and every Italian has a harem following him everywhere he goes because, hey, he's Italian!" he said in an outrageously bad Italian accent, waving one finger in the air in a way that he wanted threatening. Alfred laughed and slapped him behind the head. "Hey! Watch out man! You gotta stop doing those kind of thing, it hurts!" he protested, rubbing his head. "Or else, I'll steal all your women!" he continued in a fake Italian accent while leaning towards Alfred with a teasing smile.

"If there are any to steal." added Charles with a mocking smile.

"Yeah, our little Alfie doesn't seem to find any women _that interesting._" Tony replied, obviously quoting his friend's words and leaning even more towards him as he did so.

"Leave me alone." an irritated Alfred protested, scowling and walking ahead to stop this conversation right there. He didn't want to have this talk right now.

"Maybe he hasn't find the right one." the little Latvian said shyly, twisting his hands. Anyone could tell that he was frightened to interfere but felt the need to. Charles only emitted a sound that sounded a bit like a snort, lifting his chin in the air and rolling his eyes.

"There are no such things as the one Raivis." he answered. "All you need is a good little wife that knows how to clean a house, raise kids well."

"Cook good meals." Franklin went on.

"Always supports you."

"Never complains."

"Knows how to be reasonable."

"Good in bed." added Tony, tilting his head to the side and raising his eyebrows as if he was imagining the scene in front of him.

"Stop being so crude Tony!" complained Charles, suddenly taken out of his daydreaming and covering his little sister's ears who looked at him skeptically, wondering what was going on and why she was suddenly being left apart from their conversation.

"Like it's not something that you want." he said innocently, shrugging.

"No!" he protested.

As much as Alfred hated to admit it, they had a point. He didn't find any women interesting. Maybe Raivis was right, he hadn't found the right one yet. But deep down inside of him, I knew that it wasn't true. He had had plenty of chances to find "the right one". But none of them had that something the American was waiting for. Something that would set his soul on fire, that would wake up all those feelings love was supposed to bring, that would make his heart sink every time she would go away, that would wake him up in the night to go see her. Something like that. He had always imagined true love to be a bit like that. But he wouldn't know much about "true love".

He liked to think that he just hadn't been that lucky so far and none of the women he had met had woken up those feelings inside of him. He almost had to force himself to keep them company. There were a few amount of women that had caught his attention but none of them had that something. They had all the qualities he was looking for in a partner though. It just wasn't there. There was no connection. It was like love had died long ago in his heart. Yes he wanted all those things they were talking about. But he also wanted more. He didn't want just any woman capable of all those things. He wanted a woman that could turn his world upside down.

Maybe they were right. Maybe he really was too demanding.

Alfred sighed. Maybe he should listen to them and find a good wife that would take care of the house and the kids when he would be gone working. That's what every man wished for wasn't it ?

A woman that would tell you "Welcome home" every time you would come back from work, that would cook you a delicious meal, that would lecture the children for you, that would clean the table after you and the kids, that would ask you how your day at work was, that would support you in any way possible, that would wait patiently at home and never complain, that would spend every minute of her life trying to make life good for you and your children.

Somehow the idea didn't satisfy him at all.

"How many tickets ?" the Italian asked with a large grin, interrupting the train of his thoughts in the process.

"Five!" Tony said, smiling and handing the money to the Italian.

"All right!" he replied, taking five tickets in his left pocket. "It will be 72 dollars, ve." he added with a large smile.

"Here" Charles said, handing the money to the Italian man.

"Thank you." he exclaimed, bouncing happily on his feet and putting the money in his right pocket.

"Hey" said Tony, elbowing him. "Do you know pick-up phrases that work on girls in Italian?"

"Tony." Franklin said in a frightening tone. The Italian just laughed heartily.

"There are no pick-up lines, ve." he chuckled, tilting his head to the side.

"Well how do you do you make all the girls blush and giggle then?" he groaned. "They're all at your feet! There must be something!"

"Just tell them what they want to hear. That's how a girl works."

"If only it worked with me!" he roamed, kicking the air with one feet and mumbling other laments under his breath.

"Your soul mate will come, don't worry, ve! Your soul mate always comes one day." he said, a smile still plastered on his face but his tone more serious. He then tilted his head and looked at Alfred. "Love comes in the most... _unexpected _time and place." he added chuckling, brown eyes locked on blue ones. Alfred frowned and backed up a bit. Why was he looking at him ? He had to say that his smile was a bit scary, it sent shivers down his spine. It reminded him of a child who knew something his parents didn't.

"Yes, well anyway, I give up on the Italian pick-up lines. I don't even have an Italian face, I won't fool anyone." he exclaimed, abandoning his gloomy mood. "Thank you man!" he continued, patting the Italian's shoulder who was still looking at the blonde haired man.

"Let's get inside." said Charles, taking his little sister by the hand and leading her in the dreadfully long covered hallway.

"Is the hall of wonder right after that ?" asked Tony like a child waiting for his Christmas present.

"Yes." sighed Franklin, rolling his eyes, giving up. Tony had been, long ago, classified as a desperate case.

"Hell yes!" he exclaimed, throwing a fist in the air and quickening his pace.

Alfred could still feel the Italian's eyes on his back. What did he want from him ? And what was his morals on soul mate supposed to mean ? It had nothing to do with him! The tan blonde gulped anxiously. He could tell that he was still looking at him. He could feel it. He hesitated to check behind him to see if he wasn't just imagining things. Maybe he was just being paranoiac again. Alfred slowly turned his gaze behind him, afraid of seeing that playful smile again. When he did, he was met with clear brown eyes. Alfred turned around quickly like he had just seen the devil.

He hated circuses.

Alfred walked awkwardly, frightened by the Italian watching him behind his back, towards the famous "hall of wonders". When he opened the curtains, his eyes widened. How did they have the place to put all those people? Alfred's fascination made him forget the scary man from earlier.

The corridor was a lot larger than the first one. It looked really expensive. The walls were a purple velvet and the only lights were coming from candles in huge glass that were hooked to the wall. The filtered light made the women populating the corridor look more beautiful than they were. When they had told Alfred about a "hall of wonders", he had expected some sort of human monsters display like you could find nowadays. He personally thought that only stupid and credulous people couldn't see that there was a medical explanation to their physical state and that it was an insult towards the evolution of the human race. But this wasn't it at all. It was more like a display of human beauty and not monsters. They surely knew how to attract new spectators. There were tall and muscular men a bit everywhere, that he guessed were here for more safety, with their arms crossed, their foot solidly pinned, gazing into space like there was no one around. Alfred felt something running across my cheek and when he turned around he saw a woman that looked like a cancan dancer, laughing lightly with a playful gaze and exploring his face with a red feather. When she saw the American looking at her she just smirked and backed up, stopping her little exploration and taking back her place, her eyes glued on him, as if she wasn't finished yet with him. He wouldn't be able to tell if it was curiosity or lust that was passing through her eyes. People here were so strange.

"Oh Charles look! Raivis was right, there's a mermaid!" the little girl said with her eyes full of wonder. She tugged on Charles' sleeve vehemently. "Can we go see her ? Can we ?"

"If you want." he answered with a smile, following his little sister through the crowd.

Alfred followed them until we reached a large jar with a woman swimming in it. She had a light brown skin with dark brown hair that two red ribbons were holding in two low ponytails. She had a a sapphire blue tail that was rocking back and forth in the water. She was playing with a blue fish without looking at any of us. She had a soft face and was smiling warmly at the fish that seemed to like her a lot from the way he was swimming and playing with her like she was just another fish. The jar three times her size which allowed her to swim as much as she wanted but Alfred still felt like it was not enough. Sometimes she would disappear somewhere under her jar where nobody could see and reappear to play with her fish again.

The little girl let go of Charles' hand to put them on the glass of the mermaid's jar, looking at her in awe. The mermaid noticed the hands on the glass and turned to face the little girl watching her with eyes full of wonder. She giggled and disappear once again into the depths of her prison made of glass for a while. The blonde girl's smile fell.

"Charles! Why did she go away ?" she asked desperately. "Did I scare her ?"

"I don't know Sharon." he said, joining his sister in the front.

"But I wanted to talk to her!" she replied, pouting.

Suddenly she reappeared with something hidden in her hands, making Sharon's face brighten. She had a playful smirk glued on her face and was swimming slowly to reach the glass and face the little girl. She then titled her head to the side, smiling.

"Look Charles she came back!" she said with a large grin.

The mermaid laughed and, swimming until she reached the top of the jar -which was open-, she handed an oyster to Sharon. The little girl took it and raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Why is she giving me an _oyster_?" saying the last word in disgust.

The brown-haired mermaid made a sign with her hand, telling her to open the mysterious bivalve mollusk. Sharon looked at her with incomprehension at first but then mouthed a "Oh" and tried opening it. When the oyster gave up she looked in the inside to find a shining pearl. She grinned and started bouncing up and down.

"She gave me a pearl! Look, look! She gave me a pearl!" she exclaimed, tugging on her big brother's sleeve.

"Yes I can see that!" he mumbled, cringing at his sister grip on his sleeve, making him go up and down.

"Thank you !" she said, finally letting go of her big brother. "Thank you very much!" The mermaid just smiled and nodded before disappearing once again.

Sharon was the first one to leave, showing her pearl to whoever had the misfortune to pass next to her. Charles sighed at his little sister's energy and followed her. Alfred didn't knew how he could cope with such an hyperactive sister. Sometimes it felt like it was her telling the orders and Charles answering any of her whishes. The blonde felt someone coming from behind.

"There wasn't any woman with three tits." Tony complained, his hands in his pockets.

"Did you really thought there would be one ?" Alfred answered, a mocking smile on his lips.

"Thomas told me there was one!" he said for his defense.

"Thomas is a liar. Everyone knows that." the American answered.

"Yes well, he could have been telling the truth for once." he mumbled, going far ahead, mumbling threats against Thomas under his breath. Alfred watched my friend go away, shaking his head slightly at his friend's stupidity. He really was too naive. And perverted.

The group of friends reached a large curtain which marked the hand of the hall of wonders, allowing them entrance to the real show. It was large and round and looked more like the usual type of circus than the exterior. The center was full of sand and was cut in a semicircle by a wall made in red bricks. The seats were arranged all over the scene. A lot of people had already taken their seats and they moved with the crowd to find one. After searching for a couple of minutes, they took a seat somewhere in the middle where it was close enough to see something but far enough so that they wouldn't be able to see the artists pass right in front of them. The farther, the best. He didn't want to reproduce what happened last time.

The lights flashed to illuminate a handsome blonde man in the middle of the stage, wearing fancy and eccentric clothes. He was the type of man, every girl wanted to marry. Well-built with medium wavy blonde hair that seemed to shine under the spot-light. Clear blue eyes and a fairly good height. He also had that charisma that differentiated him from the rest. He made a little bow and a playful smile tugged the corners of his mouth.

"_Honhon~ Bonjour mesdames et messieurs! _And welcome to the _cirque du Printemps_! I see that everyone has already taken a seat." he said, scanning the crowd. He then mumbled a little "That's good, that's good" to himself before continuing his little speech. "Well, let's not waste our time with all the chitchat and let's get to the real show _mes chéris_." he said with a blink, causing at least half of the girls to giggle, Charles' little sister included. Was it an habit in Europe to add words from their native language when they were talking ? First an Italian and now a French!

"Great, just great." Alfred mumbled irritably, sinking further into his seat.

"I want you to welcome heartily our first artist!" he exclaimed while the lights all went out, leaving them almost in the dark. Alfred frowned. Wait. So they will just leave them in the dark like that with no reasons ? He groaned. Circuses definitively were evil. They could barely distinguish the figures of the people in the crowd.

The handsome blonde started to smirk and one second after fire was going out from somewhere in the darkness above them, making Alfred almost jump out of his seat. What was _wrong_ with all of them ?! When the fire died, he looked back to where the French was standing before but the blonde man had disappeared. There was no trace of him. There weren't even footsteps on the sand. Alfred raised an eyebrow skeptically. Well, he would have to figure out how he disappeared without any traces later. Maybe there was a hatch or something in the ground. Alfred narrowed his eyes, trying to find some kind of evidence that his disappearance had a scientist explanation.

His thoughts were interrupted by another bullet of fire, this time coming from behind, and suddenly, they could discern who the fire-eater was. He was tall, tan and was hidden behind a mask. Arabic he would say. He had a stern face and looked really concentrated in what he was doing. Nothing around him was disturbing him as he was juggling with bottles on fire. It was all well set-up and you felt like he was telling us a story. It wasn't just spitting fire all around the scene. It looked more elaborated and sophisticated. Alfred had to admit that it was quite beautiful to watch. He kept playing with his toys on fire for a good couple of minutes, sometimes spitting fire right above our head and provoking screams among the spectators. When the show reached its end, the room darkened. Oh great. What were they going to do next ?

He started throwing fire on something and the whole ground was set on fire progressively, making round circles in a spin. It then spread on the roof faster. It was a beautiful spectacle. It was like snakes of fire, moving on their own in unison. All the trails of fire joined in one single figure to create a dragon of fire. We all looked at it in awe of the magnificent creature in front of us. It was breath-taking.

Suddenly a tiger jumped from the dragon of fire's eye, landing roughly on the ground, followed by two others, coming from behind the scene. I heard many children scream in surprise. Then a beautiful woman dressed all in red came up on stage, riding a lion, saluting the audience with a little wave of the hand. She had a playful grin plastered on her face, like she was about to play a prank on someone. She had light brown hair with a flower pinned in it and forest green eyes. She looked really imposing, sitting on a lion like that. All the animals seemed to listen to her carefully.

She started hitting the ground with a long leather whip making the three tigers lining up and sitting on the ground. Then she got off her lion and passed in front of them like a teacher would during a test. When she was slapping the ground in front of them, the tigers were standing on their hind legs. The tigers were at her beck and call, obeying every order she gave. She didn't seem to be afraid of the animals at all, jumping on their back whenever she wanted to and making them jump in hoops on fire.

She was followed by two men, riding horses. One seemed to be really concentrated, watching every of his steps, while the other one was laughing and playing with the audience, simulating falling just to get back on his horse a few second after, making all the children sigh in relief. They had a great chemistry though. Like they had known each other for years. Their acrobatics were perfect, never making one false move. It was like they could talk through telepathy.

Actually all the artists following them were pretty good. They had a Chinese guy practicing martial art and throwing knives blindfolded with his eyes around a lady without touching her even once. A woman juggling with porcelain plates, sitting on a unicycle. An elephant tamer that brought kids to the front of the crowd, hoping that they could touch the majestic animal. A talented tight-rope walker that had the beauty of an Ice Queen. A magician and illusionist that never smiled but left them all dumbfounded.

He hadn't even been frightened by the two clowns that had spent their time arguing. They were different from other clowns. They had no stupid red nose but did have some outrageously ridiculous clothes that made them look like two Harlequins. A Spanish man kept teasing another one by making tons of stupid jokes like splashing water on his face or making him fall when he was talking. The poor victim was pretty annoyed and they ended up arguing on stage. It did make people laugh though. They had that simplicity that was quite refreshing. There was no huge and common numbers that involved changing objects or overly expressive faces, that kind of looked scary in his opinion. It was just natural. Like they hadn't plan any of the show before. The Frenchman came back on stage with his usual impish smile.

"M_es amis,_ I'm afraid that this show is coming to its end!" he said making a little circular movement with the hand. A lot of smiles fell and children started to make a noise of disapproval, begging their mothers to stay a bit longer. "Ah but do not fret, _mes trésors, _it isn't the time to say goodbye to each other yet! I still have something for you." he went on, pointing his index finger at the audience, a slight smile tugging the corners of his lips. "I always have something left for you." he added in a seductive tone and a blink, making girls swoon in the process. " Now I want you to please welcome our last artist." he finished stepping back and extending his left arm towards the center of the scene.

The oil lamps' light faded again. They were able to see more than the first time though and Alfred could even see the face of the person sitting on the opposite side of his seat perfectly. The blonde French had, once again, disappeared into darkness but that time the sand on the ground proved that he had used his feet. He looked around him, waiting patiently for the next number. He had to say that it had been a quite pleasant spectacle and he didn't regret coming anymore.

Two long strands of red silk fell from the sky, stopping their descent a few centimeters from the ground. The first notes of a song were played and Alfred immediately recognized the melody as he had heard it being played often at his house. It was the third, and most famous, song of the set of three piano solo work _Liebestraüme_ by Franz Liszt. It was one of Alfred's favorite song. He had heard it a lot when he was a child and his mother would often play it on the piano for him. Whoever the pianist playing was, he was really talented. The sound was smooth and the feelings well captured. You could feel in your heart all the emotions he was trying to convey with every note. He certainly was more talented than his mother.

The train of his thoughts was cut off by a man emerging elegantly from his cover of silk like a flower during bloom, wrapping his legs and arms around it. He was the most beautiful person Alfred had ever seen, hoisted like that in the air like he was about to fly away at any moment. He almost looked like a living sculpture. Alfred was sure that if they were still alive, that dancer would have inspired Polykleitos or Euphranor. He had hair made of gold, eyes made of raw emerald and skin made of white alabaster. He had a natural grace and was moving along with the music like it was part of him. His movements were graceful and sophisticated, there was no rush in his dance and sometimes Alfred wondered if he had even seen the audience. He had a slightly curved nose and almond-shaped eyes that pierced into your soul with the strength of a meteorite crashing on Earth. He had the most peculiar eyebrows he had ever seen. His eyebrows were large and somehow messy but fitted perfectly on his face. Actually he had never seen such large eyebrows looking so good on someone. His cherry lips contrasted with his snow white skin. It almost looked like a rose in the middle of winter, a drop of color in the middle of the snow. His sandy blonde hair were messy, falling everywhere on his forehead and on the back of his neck untidily. He wondered if Jason hadn't lost his Golden Fleece in his hair. They looked like gold wires. His oval-shaped head was supported by a long and thin neck. He looked so pure and yet broken, like an angel trapped in our world. He was perfection.

At first, he had wondered if he wasn't a piece of his imagination. That he had never went to this circus and that this gorgeous man dancing in front of him was just a dream. That he was just an illusion his fantasies had made up for him during his sleep. If it was the case, it may explain why he hadn't been scared by the clowns. He had never seen someone that fascinating. He was hypnotizing. Nothing seemed to touch him. He was moving with the grace of a bird, his eyes always looking at the sky like he was trying to fly higher and higher until he could reach the sun. Looking at him was like looking at heaven. Suddenly all the other acrobats, tamers and jugglers before him seemed like a vast trickery. Like they had only been here to entertain you before the real show.

His dance was strikingly beautiful. His body was telling us a story when his mouth couldn't. It was the most beautiful thing Alfred had ever seen. More beautiful than any ballet or spectacle performed by the greatest musician or dancers in America he had ever seen before. He wasn't just an artist. He was a work of art. He was grace, he was majesty, he was perfection. The American had never looked at someone that mesmerizing. His moves were soft and yet desperate, like he was dying on the inside. His eyes couldn't let go of him. He seemed in trance. He even wondered if he wasn't possessed. He was a poppet in the hands of the song. You could see every single feelings of the song in his moving body.

Suddenly Alfred understood why people said "the magic of the circus".

* * *

"Man, that was amazing!" Tony shouted, a grin plastered on his face.

"Yes, it was amazing, amazing!" repeated the little girl heartily, jumping slightly on her feet and making her blonde bangs go up and down. To Charles' dismay, Shannon had always had a huge admiration for Tony and lately had that bad habit of repeating everything the man would say. "The elephant was beautiful too!"

"Hey! Hum, you, ve!" Alfred heard a hesitating voice with an Italian accent call. He turned around to see the ticket man rushing towards him and waving his hand at him. _Oh God no,_ he thought. "Ah!" he stopped in front of him, breathless, with a truck made of wood and iron. "Hum, could you" he tried to say before almost making the truck fall out of his hand. "_Merda!_" His hands let go off the truck and Alfred caught it easily before it hit the poor man's feet. He had always had an inexplicable strength. The Italian seemed relieved and smiled at him widely. "Ah _grazie!_ It was really heavy, ve! I'm sorry to bother you but could you take that to the big top please ?" he asked with pleading eyes.

It was at that moment that Tony decided to act like "his heroic self" and show his manly side by offering his help. "I can do it if you want." he said proudly, puffing out his chest and grinning.

Suddenly the Italian's smile fell and his eyes widened in horror, like he had just been told a terrible future. There was a pregnant pause and Tony started looking anxiously around him, not understanding the other man's reaction. Finally the brown-haired man let out a "_Vai a cagare faccia di stronzo! Tu non sei quello che voglio"_he spitted out in Italian, apparently looking furious. Tony's face fell, surprised by the once sweet and charming man's outburst. Suddenly he cooled down and a smile reappeared on his face. "You have... Well you are..." he said, trying to find an excuse, a frown on his face. "Your foot are too small for this task, ve. You can't go fast with small foot." he finally let out, nodding his head vehemently. Then he ran away quickly shouting one last "Thank you for doing this tall blonde man with blue eyes and long feet, ve!" he shouted with a nervous laugh, in an attempt to make sure that it would be Alfred going.

"What a strange person." Tony stated after a long pause.

"For the first time in my life I agree with you Tony." Charles answered, taken aback by the peculiar man.

Alfred just sighed.

* * *

When he reached the big top it seemed larger than the first time he had entered since it was empty. The place was a mess, people had let their garbage everywhere on the floor and there were still some of the artists' belongings on the sand. It was at that time that Alfred realized that the Italian hadn't told him where to put the truck. He looked around him and saw a man searching for something in a box. He couldn't see his face as he had his back turned at him.

"Hum, excuse me ?" he asked cautiously, unsure about whether he should disturb him or not. At the sound of his voice the other man stopped his doing and turned around to face Alfred's sky blue eyes with two perfect emerald ones. _Holy crap the dancer,_ he thought. "Oh, hum. Sorry I- Well I didn't mean to interrupt but-" Damn what was wrong with him, losing his words like that ?

Arthur titled his head at the stranger, analyzing him with curiosity. He didn't look bad. He didn't look bad at all actually. He was a bit taller than him and had a fairly tan skin devoid of any imperfections. He watched the man stuttering some incoherent words and mentally chuckled at the man's panic. He was definitively cute. A shy person in the body of an Apollo. He liked that.

It seemed like he was talking to the void since Arthur wasn't really listening to him. The dancer looked at his lips moving. They were thin and slightly pink. He had nice teeth too. Perfectly aligned. His face was rectangular, accentuating his strong jaw. His messy hair and his glasses made him look like a mad scientist. Maybe he was a scientist. Who knew. The American passed his hand in his golden hair, looking somewhere at the ground and blushing slightly. He had large hands. He could imagine them running through his bare skin or grabbing him strongly by the hips to push him against a wall. But that would probably not happened, the man looked too shy. He could still imagine them caressing him though. He would probably be gentle but passionate. He seemed like the kind of man who never knows if he should go for it or not when he wasn't sure of the result. His hands seemed large enough to cup almost the entire side of his face. He was cut off from his fantasies by the American.

"So that's why I'm here." the American finished.

_Had he really talk on his own for that long ?_ Arthur thought, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

Alfred looked around nervously. Why had he talked so much ? It kind of sounded awkward know that he thought about it. He really was a professional at making a fool out of him. He sighed, trying the hardest he could to not look at the man standing a few meters away from him. Why wasn't he answering ? Maybe he really thought that he was strange. Or maybe he had just already left.

He drifted his gaze from the ground to check if the other man was still there, only to see that the dancer was now standing in front of him. He gasped, surprised to see him so close, and tried to do something before being cut off by a hand placed on his cheek gently but firmly. He frowned and another hand cupped his other cheek. Alfred was pretty sure that it wasn't the way a normal stranger would act. As he was about to say something in protest, a pair of lips captured his own in a gentle but forceful way, making his brain shut down and his eyes widen. Panic took charge of Alfred and he found himself unable to do anything or push the other away. It was like his brain was numb and his body paralyzed. Like the man's lips had spread some sort of drug into his body, making him unable to resist. It wasn't a passionate or a brutal kiss. Just a soft pressure on his lips. The dancer broke the kiss, slowly backing up from a few inches. His hands still placed on Alfred's cheeks. He licked his reddish lips in a casual way, like he was just savoring a good cake. Alfred blushed furiously at the movement.

"Hey Alfred! What is taking you so long ?" Alfred jumped at the sound of Tony's voice, making the dancer lose his grasp on him. He didn't see the scowl of disapproval on his face though. "Still in there? We've been waiting for you for 10 minutes! It doesn't take that long to bring back that stupid truck!" he shouted, obviously frustrated. After many insults directed towards Alfred he finally noticed the figure of the dancer disappearing backstage. "Oh you were talking to the last artist? Pretty cool show I have to say. What were you two talking about ?"

But Alfred wasn't listening. His brain was still trying to process what had just happened. He brought a hand to his mouth in shock. He had been kissed by a man working in a travelling circus with absolutely no reason and he had done nothing to stop him. A deep blush spread on his cheeks. That couldn't possibly have happened. Right. It was all just a dream. Or a nightmare. Quite frankly, he didn't know which one it was.

"Hello! Earth to Alfred!" groaned Tony angrily, passing a hand in front of Alfred's face. "Man, you're completely off the mark tonight!" he complained, putting his hands in his pocket roughly like he always used to do whenever he was frustrated or angry and walked away, muttering inaudible things under his breath. It took a few minutes for Alfred to follow his friend.

This had to be the strangest evening ever.

* * *

"Feliciano!" the brown-haired man shivered at the sound of the voice calling him. It was never a good sign to be called by his full name "Feliciano" and not his nickname "Feli". It often meant that he had done something really wrong. He laughed nervously and turned around to face a furious Frenchman walking towards him at a quick-pace, anger flickering in his eyes.

"Yes Francis ?" he answered, taking a step backwards to keep a safe distance between him and the blonde in order to not get killed.

"I know you sent that-! That strange-looking _américain _to do your job in order to make Arthur meet him! What were you thinking Feliciano!" he shouted, making angry movements with his hand.

"But-"

"There is no but!"

"Francis I _know_ this is going to end up differently, ve! I just know it!" he cried in defense. "He's different I can see it!"

"You don't see anything! You say that every time! Every time they're _"different" _and every time he just ends up a little bit more broken! He isn't different! And you don't know anything about what Arthur needs!" Francis replied coldly. "What he needs is time to recover! Not some stupid handsome man he can play with! He had enough of them! He doesn't-!" Francis didn't bother to reply and just let out a groan, letting himself fall roughly on the couch and rubbing his temples.

Feliciano stood there as if he was frozen, looking at his feet awkwardly. He knew that Francis was really sensitive when it came to Arthur and that it was impossible to reason with him when it came to the sandy blonde man. He knew why the Frenchman was being so protective over him and he fully understood and even agreed with him on it. He knew he had screwed up the last times he had tried to make Arthur feel better. But he knew that this time he was different. Not different like the others were. He just emanated trust, affection. He just emanated love. Isn't love the best cure to everything ?

Feliciano slowly took a seat next to his French friend and stood still, letting Francis sort of his thoughts. He had also learned that cutting Francis' thoughts was a terrible thing to do. He looked at the wall in front of him for a minute or two and then took the bottle of wine on the table, pouring some in a stemmed glass. He looked at Francis that was still lost in his thoughts. The blonde had brought his hands up to his chin and was looking at the floor like it could give him an answer. Feliciano decided to push carefully the glass towards him. The French barely reacted at the movement and just took the glass and emptied it at one gulp which usually meant that he was upset. Because Francis was always savoring a good wine instead of drinking it like a _"rustre"_ as he said.

Feliciano didn't like to see him like that, it made him feel bad about what he had done. He bit his lips and brought his knees to his face in a protective manner, burying his face in it. Was Francis right ? Was he wrong ? Was he only hurting Arthur ?

Had he really screwed up ?

* * *

**N/A : **

I don't speak Italian but "tesori" means "treasures" I think. "Merda" means "shit". "Grazie" means "Thank you". "Vai a cagare" means something like "Fuck off", "faccia di stronzo" is something like asshole or son of a bitch and "Tu non sei quello che voglio" means "you're not the one that I want" or "you're not what I want". I'm not really sure about the last one because I was forced to use google translate. :/ So a huge SORRY to all the Italians reading this! It probably doesn't make any sense to you x'D I usually hate to do this but I couldn't imagine Feli saying it in English to Tony. "Bonjour mesdames et messieurs" is the French for "Welcome ladies and gentlemen". "Mes chéris" is the French for "My darlings". "Mes amis" is the French for "My friends". "Mes trésors" is the French for "My treasures". "Rustre" is the French for "boorish". Haha yes, you caught me, I'm French. xD

Longest chapter I've ever wrote xD

I'm sorry if the descriptions sound a bit sketchy :S I have no idea how to write a description well in English and I'm no architect. ^^' I hate first chapters. .' The whole "setting up the ambiance and the characters" thing is tiring and I feel like I'm always screwing them up. ;w; The kiss part also sucks.

Oh and I love Francis and Feli to death in this fic so prepare yourself to meet them more often. ;) I know Feli is a bit OOC but I love him that way just as much as I like an Alfred that can be mature and a not so tsundere Arthur :D (And by the way you may think Francis is a bit OOC for protecting Arthur but he isn't xD Well in my opinion at least.) I could write you an essay on why I consider them to be like that but my chapter is already (way) too long xD


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